1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to displaying menu items, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for managing a tool kit menu of a portable terminal in a roaming condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, mobile communication through use of a portable terminal is regarded as personal necessity of life. In addition, the increasing number of users traveling from one country to another has resulted in a growing demand from the users of portable terminals, who want an international roaming service.
In a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)-based mobile communication system, rather than a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, user authentication information is stored in a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to authenticate a user, and thus a mobile communication service is provided to the authenticated user.
A SIM tool kit program is stored in a SIM card and is executed by a controller after booting a portable terminal. In general, the SIM tool kit program is produced by a service provider. A user can access a licensed service from the service provider by using the SIM card in which information required to use the service is stored.
However, a problem arises when a user moves to a specific region where a service is no longer available. While information on that service is present in a SIM card, the information may be displayed through a tool kit menu (or a user menu) of a portable terminal even though the service cannot be provided. This causes confusion to the user.
Moreover, when the user selects the unavailable service through the tool kit menu, an unnecessary process is performed for the unavailable service, thereby wasting resources.